Kérastase

A hair care brand launched by L'Oreal in 1964 was distributed for the first half-century of its existence, only through professional salons. That restriction was the moat. Carastese was developed as an internal project inside L'Oreal Laboratories in the early 1960s, targeted specifically at the professional salon channel. The brand skipped retail distribution entirely. For decades, Carastese products could be bought only at participating salons, where a trained stylist would diagnose the customer's hair type and prescribe a regimen. The diagnostic step ran for 15 minutes at the basin, and concluded with the stylist recommending a specific range for the customer to buy through the salon. Most hair care brands sell a single proposition to a mass audience through drugstore and supermarket shelves, which means customers guess at their hair needs and often buy products that do not match.